A Little Learning

I know I'm a year late to the party, but The World Without Us is a gift of a book. This ol' brain of mine can hardly keep up with the theories, history and speculation. It requires a thimbleful of concentration, and that's generally more than I can offer during my commute.

If you haven't heard about the book, the title says it all. What would happen if humans vanished from the face of the earth (ala Left Behind)? What would happen to nature, to structures, to the atmosphere? Weisman, the author, also considers what life would have been like had humans never inhabited it at all. I'm only 60 pages in and already I'm feeling smart and enlightened.

Here are two of my favorite bits so far:
"Long before, the wild predators finished off the last descendants of pet dogs, but a wily population of feral house cats persists, feeding on starlings."

In other words, CATS RULE.

And here's a bit that confirms my (not-at-all) irrational fear of monkey beasts:
"To stare into the eyes of a chimpanzee is to glimpse the world had we stayed in the forest. . . . Dr. Wilson vouches for their strength. He has watched them tear apart and devour red colobus monkeys Superb hunters,about 80% of their attempts are successful kills."

Hmmm.  So next time you're with me at a zoo, you'll understand why I break out into a cold sweat when I see a terrifying creepy monkey beast. Huzzah.